By Madla S.B. No. 227
75R930 DWS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a grant or loan for a local area adversely affected by
1-3 a reduction in defense-related activity.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle F, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Chapter 486 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 486. ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL AREA AFFECTED BY
1-8 DEFENSE REDUCTION
1-9 Sec. 486.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-10 (1) "Defense worker" means an employee of:
1-11 (A) the United States Department of Defense,
1-12 including a member of the armed forces and a government civilian
1-13 worker;
1-14 (B) any employee of a government agency, private
1-15 business, or department of defense related function that is
1-16 employed on a defense facility; or
1-17 (C) any employee of a business that provides
1-18 direct services or products to the department of defense and whose
1-19 job is directly dependent on defense expenditures.
1-20 (2) "Defense worker job" means a department of defense
1-21 authorized permanent position or a position held or occupied by one
1-22 or more defense workers for more than 12 months.
1-23 (3) "Department" means the Texas Department of
1-24 Commerce.
2-1 (4) "Panel" means the Defense Economic Adjustment
2-2 Assistance Panel.
2-3 Sec. 486.002. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The
2-4 department shall administer and monitor the implementation of this
2-5 chapter.
2-6 (b) The department shall establish criteria and procedures
2-7 for evaluations and awarding grants.
2-8 (c) The department shall adopt rules necessary to carry out
2-9 the purposes of this chapter.
2-10 Sec. 486.003. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANT. (a) A local
2-11 governmental entity is eligible for a grant under this chapter if
2-12 it is:
2-13 (1) a municipality or county that is an adversely
2-14 affected defense-dependent community; or
2-15 (2) a regional planning commission that has an
2-16 adversely affected defense-dependent community within its
2-17 boundaries.
2-18 (b) A municipality or county is an adversely affected
2-19 defense-dependent community if the department determines that:
2-20 (1) the municipality or county requires assistance
2-21 because of:
2-22 (A) the proposed or actual establishment,
2-23 realignment, or closure of a defense facility;
2-24 (B) the cancellation or termination of a United
2-25 States Department of Defense contract or the failure of the
2-26 department of defense to proceed with an approved major weapon
2-27 system program;
3-1 (C) a publicly announced planned major reduction
3-2 in department of defense spending that would directly and adversely
3-3 affect the municipality or county; or
3-4 (D) the closure or a significant reduction of
3-5 the operations of a defense facility as the result of a merger,
3-6 acquisition, or consolidation of a defense contractor operating the
3-7 facility; and
3-8 (2) the municipality or county is expected to
3-9 experience, during the period between the date an event described
3-10 by Subdivision (1) is finally approved and the date that the event
3-11 is to be substantially completed, a direct loss of:
3-12 (A) 2,500 or more defense worker jobs in any
3-13 area of the municipality or county that is located in a
3-14 metropolitan statistical area;
3-15 (B) 1,000 or more defense worker jobs in any
3-16 area of the municipality or county that is not located in a
3-17 metropolitan statistical area; or
3-18 (C) one percent of the civilian jobs in the
3-19 municipality or county.
3-20 Sec. 486.004. GRANT CRITERIA. From money appropriated for
3-21 this purpose, the department may make a grant to an eligible local
3-22 governmental entity to allow the entity to meet a matching money or
3-23 investment requirement in order to receive from the United States
3-24 assistance that is provided to allow the local governmental entity
3-25 to respond to or recover from an event described by Section
3-26 486.003(b)(1). In addition, a grant may be made to an eligible
3-27 local governmental entity to match the entity's contribution for a
4-1 purpose described in Section 486.005 on a closed or realigned
4-2 defense facility. A grant may not be less than $50,000 or more
4-3 than the least of:
4-4 (1) 50 percent of the amount of matching money or
4-5 investment that the local governmental entity is required to
4-6 provide;
4-7 (2) 50 percent of the local governmental entity's
4-8 investment for purposes described in Section 486.005, in cases
4-9 where United States assistance is not available; or
4-10 (3) $2 million.
4-11 Sec. 486.005. USE OF PROCEEDS. (a) The local governmental
4-12 entity may use the proceeds of the grant for purchase of property
4-13 from the department of defense or its designated agent, new
4-14 construction, rehabilitation, or renovation of facilities or
4-15 infrastructure, or purchase of capital equipment or insurance.
4-16 (b) The local governmental entity may deliver the money to a
4-17 special district, development corporation, or other instrumentality
4-18 of the state or the local governmental entity for use as provided
4-19 by this chapter and other applicable law.
4-20 Sec. 486.006. DEFENSE ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE PANEL.
4-21 The department shall establish a defense economic adjustment
4-22 assistance panel within the department. The panel consists of at
4-23 least three and not more than five professional full-time employees
4-24 of the department appointed by the executive director of the
4-25 department.
4-26 Sec. 486.007. APPLICATION FOR GRANT. A local governmental
4-27 entity may apply for a grant under this chapter to the department
5-1 on a form prescribed by the department. The department shall
5-2 establish periodic application cycles to enable the panel and
5-3 department to evaluate groups of applicants in relation to each
5-4 other.
5-5 Sec. 486.008. EVALUATION OF APPLICATION. The panel shall
5-6 evaluate each application and assign the applicant a score based
5-7 on:
5-8 (1) the significance of the adverse effect within the
5-9 local governmental entity, including the number of jobs lost in
5-10 relation to the workforce in the local governmental entity's
5-11 jurisdiction and the effect on the area's economy and tax revenue;
5-12 (2) the extent to which the local governmental entity
5-13 has used its existing resources to promote local economic
5-14 development;
5-15 (3) the amount of any grant that the local
5-16 governmental entity has previously received under this chapter;
5-17 (4) the anticipated number of jobs to be created in
5-18 relation to the amount of the grant sought; and
5-19 (5) the extent to which the grant will affect the
5-20 region in which the local governmental entity is located.
5-21 Sec. 486.009. MAKING OF GRANT. The panel shall submit its
5-22 scores to the department's governing body. The governing body
5-23 shall use the scores to determine whether to make a grant to an
5-24 applicant. The governing body may not make a grant unless the
5-25 legislature has appropriated the money for the grant.
5-26 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
5-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-4 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-5 passage, and it is so enacted.